Afghan media noted that Pakistan blamed India for 'pulling the strings', but did not account for their own sudden change in stance during the negotiations

Pakistan’s defense minister warned Afghanistan on Wednesday that any new “terrorist or suicide attack” by militants on Pakistani soil would draw a stern response, hours after talks between them in Istanbul failed to secure a peace agreement.

Despite the challenges to peace, both know they will hurt from continued hostilities – and need a path to peace.

ISLAMABAD: Defence Minister Khawaja Muhammad Asif on Wednesday issued a stark warning to the Afghan Taliban, saying Pakistan would not need to use “even a fraction of its full arsenal” to obliterate the insurgent regime if it persisted with confrontation—remarks that followed the collapse of recent talks in Istanbul.

The Taliban government accuses Pakistan of bombing Kabul and a market in eastern Afghanistan. A blast occurred Thursday night in Kabul near key government buildings.

Dozens of fighters were killed in overnight border clashes between Pakistan and Afghanistan, both sides said on Sunday, in the most serious fighting between the neighbours since the Taliban came to power in Kabul.

This special report focuses on the escalating conflict between Pakistan and the Afghan Taliban, with Rawalpindi facing threats of attacks on Islamabad and an 'open war' warning from its own Defence Minister,

As the talks in Turkey appear to drift toward deadlock, Pakistan finds itself caught between diplomatic isolation, eroding credibility, and the consequences of decades of misguided policy.